• Next Congress could opt for urgent six-month ratification of Paris Agreement
• Spain awaiting word on carbon pricing as it prepares documentation on treaty

Spain may be ready to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change within the next six months, depending on whether or not the new Congress seated following 26th June general elections opts for a six-month “fast track” or a normal ratification process taking up to a year, according to the director of the Spanish government’s Office on Climate Change, Ulargui Valvanera.

The Spanish government is currently awaiting final details on the price of carbon to be set in calculating carbon emission reductions for Spain as it prepares full documentation to be presented to Congress toward ratification of the treaty, Valvanera told the news agency Europa Press.

On Earth Day 2016 (22nd April) at the United Nations in New York, Spain subscribed to the Paris Agreement, which was reached at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference and adopted by consensus of all parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December. The agreement implements the UNFCCC framework for dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.